It certainly had a different look than we are used to, but after Survivor Series 2022, did we get the best (WWE) WarGames matches ever?

I say a different look, because gone were the traditional Survivor Series elimination matches. To be fair, those have waned a bit in recent years.

We usually got one or two, but lately we had a lot of brand versus brand shoved down our throats.

With the brand split fading more and more, there wasn’t a ton of value in “bragging rights”.

Instead, the new boss went back to his NXT options, and brought WarGames to the main roster.

Yes, WarGames came from WCW and Dusty Rhodes. That is why landing in NXT was awesome, a tribute to Rhodes.

And, as a fan of the old NXT TakeOver specials, their iterations of WarGames were genuinely epic.

I am being completely honest here: I’ve only caught some highlights of the true original WarGames bouts.

Those set the standard, and since I don’t have any of them memorized, I am narrowing my focus here.

Specifically, after this PLE, did we see the best WWE WarGames matches ever?

Like I said, the selections from the NXT library are really good offerings. The bar is high, so lets find out…

best wargames matches ever

Survivor Series 2022: Best WWE WarGames Matches Ever?

First thing I have to cover is, well, the lack of the Survivor Series format.

To be fair, over the years we saw quite a few variations. Four on four, five on five.

Sometimes, we even got all the babyface survivors in a “bonus” match against all the heel survivors, to crown the sole survivors.

This was the same show that gave us the Gobbledygooker and that bloody egg.

It also was the launch point of one of the greatest Superstars ever in The Undertaker.

So, a part of me was bummed that we had not even one, non-WarGames, “traditional” Survivor Series bout.

Part of me hoped we’d see Judgement Day versus The OC morph into one, but no such luck.

If anything, it feels like WWE should have either retired Survivor Series, or used the WarGames gimmick for a different card.

Considering that Survivor Series is one of the longest running marks, it won’t likely be retired.

What I didn’t miss? The brand versus brand, champion versus champion matches.

Some of them in recent years were not great, especially in those times we saw a title change very close to the show, to give us some “better” matches.

But, did we get the best WarGames matches ever, in WWE?

Honestly, I consider them hard to compare. Not a cop-out, just different.

The old NXT editions of WarGames gave us some electric crowds, but in much smaller settings.

And, in those matches, we got the best that NXT had to offer. Some participants are main roster Superstars now, including some in this year’s matches.

Others, like most of Undisputed Era? Out of the company.

But…on the main roster? In both the men’s and women’s WarGames matches, we can make a case for having 10 of the absolute best Superstars in all of WWE.

Now, there will be some dispute there. Surely there are individual talents better than some in both matches.

But WarGames is all about teams, as was Survivor Series as we knew it. Damage Control is positioned as the hottest new team within the women’s division.

Individual talent be damned, that one made sense. Plus, having Bayley, Bianca and Becky all in that match?

best wargames matches ever

Huge. And the others, like Asuka and Mia Yim and Alexa Bliss?

No slouches there, and heck even Nikki Cross is a former Women’s Champion.

Translation: the match was loaded, and it delivered.

Yes, it was chaotic and a train wreck, but you expect that from WarGames.

Was this the best WWE WarGames match for the women? I’d say yes, though there have not been as many to go up against.

As for the men…

Just on paper, before the first two Superstars ever climbed into the structure? Hard to say it wouldn’t be.

The NXT variants had top NXT Superstars. Some of whom have gone on to greater things.

One was even a cameo by Kevin Owens.

But look at the men’s match. The entire Bloodline, one of the most dominant factions we’ve seen, with three long reigning champs.

Going against them? Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, Kevin Owens, Butch and Ridge Holland.

I would say 7 of the 10 are top Superstars, with the other 3 on the rise. On sheer Superstar power alone, this one was primed to be the best WWE ever put forth.

Before getting into that match? That Boston crowd absolutely was electric, and being so much bigger than anything we got for an NXT edition?

It makes a difference.

Otherwise, I would absolutely say this is hard to compare with the NXT offerings.

The faces had some experience-Butch and Kevin Owens have been in WarGames before.

One thing that I think the NXT matches had more of? Some more aerial talents that really played up the structure and gave us some crazy spots.

Nothing against the Usos, of course.

While we might not have had the high flying…we did get a banger.

And…that’s exactly what we wanted, I think.

I do think that this men’s match had more of a continuing story. Meaning, we know that this was just the latest in the fractures of the Bloodline.

We saw teases between Jimmy and Jey and Sami during the early goings.

But, for the time being, Sami proved his loyalty, over and over.

And the ending just…makes things seem solid for now.

Honestly, I’d have to go back and watch the NXT efforts to know for sure, but I feel like none had quite this level of “long term storytelling”.

So, lets not say “best WWE WarGames matches ever”, and instead say that these were two more great efforts by WWE, honoring Dusty once again.

 

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